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Credit Bureaus Now Classify Consumers as Transactors or Revolvers

November 13, 2013, Written By Natalie Rutledge

Are you a “transactor” or a “revolver”? That’s the question that all three credit bureaus are now asking when they assess credit.

TransUnion, Equifax and Experian have all added features to their credit reports that highlight what kind of credit card user you are. This could determine the kind of credit cards you qualify for in the future.

There are two categories of cardholders: transactors and revolvers. Transactors are people who use their credit cards and then pay their balances off before the end of their billing cycles. Revolvers are those who regularly maintain a balance on their cards that “revolves” from month to month.

Ezra Becker, vice president of research and consulting at TransUnion, noted that transactors are less apt to default on their payments than revolvers. This category of borrowers will likely have access to more credit cards and better lines of credit once companies start to look into the classification information.

“This is another tool we are giving to lenders to be able to manage risk. The idea is everyone should pay for the risk they present,” said Becker in an interview. “If you treat everyone the same, the low-risk people subsidize the high-risk people.”

If you were planning on racking up high credit card bills for Christmas this year, you may want to think again. Rather than paying off those bills sometime in 2014 and being categorized as a revolver, try for a January payoff to maintain your transactor status. How you pay your credit card bills now could impact your crediting options in the future.

About Natalie Rutledge

Natalie Rutledge majored in Communications at Mississippi State University. She was in sales for a number of businesses and spent nine years working as a communications advisor to various entities. Natalie can be contacted directly at [email protected]

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Editorial Note: This content is not provided or commissioned by the credit card issuer. Opinions expressed here are author's alone, not those of the credit card issuer, and have not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by the credit card issuer. This site may be compensated through the credit card issuer affiliate program. See the online application for details about terms and conditions for these offers. Every reasonable effort has been made to maintain accurate information, however all credit card information is presented without warranty. After you click on an offer you will be directed to the credit card issuer's web site where you can review the terms and conditions for your offer.

Advertiser Disclosure: LowCards.com is an independent, for-profit web site. LowCards.com participates in the Affiliate Network, and receives compensation from most of the credit card issuers whose offers appear on the site. This compensation helps support our website and enables us to write insightful articles to help you manage your credit card accounts. This compensation, as well as the likelihood of applicants' credit approval and our own proprietary website guidelines, may impact how and where the cards appear on our site.

LowCards.com does not include all credit card companies or every available credit card offer. Opinions expressed here are author's alone, not those of the credit card issuer, and have not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by the credit card issuer. Every reasonable effort has been made to maintain accurate information, however credit card offers change frequently. After you click on an offer you will be directed to the credit card issuer's secure web site where you can review the terms and conditions for your offer.